DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Summary
This communication is a First Office Action Non-Final Rejection on the merits.
Claims 1 – 10 are currently pending and considered below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation of “a jump determination unit configured to determine whether a ship equipped with the electric propulsion machine jumps.” However, There is no disclosure or structure that represent the element of “the electric propulsion machine jumps.” The specification merely repeat exactly same phrase in paragraph 11 (which is verbatim of claim limitation). The drawing does not show any aspect of “the electric propulsion machine jumps.” Clarification is required.
Claims 2 – 10 depends from claim 1. Therefore, claims 2 – 10 are rejected under same rationale as claim 1.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation of “a jump determination unit configured to determine whether a ship equipped with the electric propulsion machine jumps.” It is not clear what the electric propulsion machine jumps is referring to. Entire specification is directed to the control can determine if a ship is jumping out of the water but does not clearly explain how the ship is equip with the electric propulsion machine jumps and what it is (there is no referring structure in any of the disclosure). Clarification is required. For the purpose of the Examination, the Examiner construes that if any of system that can determine that a ship is out of the water, then the claim limitations is met.
Claims 2 – 10 depends from claim 1. Therefore, claims 2 – 10 are rejected under same rationale as claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sankrithi (US 2025/0256828 A1).
As per claim 1, Sankrithi teaches limitations of:
a motor control device for an electric propulsion machine, the motor control device being configured to control a motor of the electric propulsion machine, the electric propulsion machine comprising a propeller and the motor configured to rotate the propeller (See at least abstract and paragraph 52; The invention provides a new class of transportation with a partially aerostatically supported ram air cushion ship (PASRACS) that can provide safe, fast, efficient global transport services with extraordinary comfort, luxury and amenities. The PASRACS employs inventive synergistic combinations of lift from aerostatic, aerodynamic, hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces for different modes of operation ranging from a stationary floating configuration on a water surface, to flight in ground effect at high speed. A propulsion system can utilize hydrogen as an energy source driving fluid-dynamic thrusters, to enable zero carbon emissions operations. A transition method is provided for a PASRACS to transition from a floating mode to a takeoff mode to a flight in ground-effect mode in an inventive optimized manner … The ram air cushion 20 when pressurized at least in part by a thruster 28T, becomes by definition a power-augmented ram air cushion 20P. A thruster 28T may be structurally connected to propulsor nacelle 28N that in turn is structurally connected to primary ship structure 2 of the partially aerostatically supported ram air cushion ship 1 through a propulsor strut 28S, as shown in FIG. 1D. Power to drive the thruster may come from an electric motor and/or a fuel cell and/or a heat engine (such as a combustion engine 26C) that may burn a fuel such as hydrogen from a lifting gas module and/or a separate gaseous or cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank, and/or a hydrocarbon fuel such as a biofuel that may be sourced from plant material such as algae or jatropha without limitation), the motor control device comprising:
a drive control unit configured to perform drive control of the motor to rotate the propeller (See at least paragraph 51 and 52; The illustrated propulsion system 26 uses thirty thrusters 28T such as thrusting fans (which may be propellers and/or unducted fans and/or ducted fans and/or augmentor fans), of which some also serve to pressurize the ram air cushion 20 for takeoff and landing flight phases of the partially aerostatically supported ram air cushion ship 1. Varying numbers and types of thrusters can be utilized in variant embodiments of the invention, as needed to balance or overcome drag force 141, that can include both aerodynamic drag (with components such as skin friction or parasite drag, laminar drag, turbulent drag, induced drag associated with aerodynamic lift, form drag, profile drag, trim drag, excrescence drag and compressibility wave drag) and hydrodynamic drag (with components such as hull drag, skin friction drag, laminar drag, turbulent drag, wave making resistance, wave drag, spray drag, planing drag, step drag, hump drag, induced drag and excrescence drag).);
a jump determination unit configured to determine whether a ship equipped with the electric propulsion machine jumps (See at least abstract and paragraph 12; A transition method is provided for a PASRACS to transition from a floating mode to a takeoff mode to a flight in ground-effect mode in an inventive optimized manner. A transport method for multimodally transporting payload is provided with PASRACS vehicles and systems, with quick turn time operations enabled by the use of payload transfer transport modules and transfer vehicles, … a transition method for a partially aerostatically supported ram air cushion ship to transition from a substantially static floating mode on a water surface to a water takeoff mode with supplemental fluid dynamic support and then to a forward flight in ground effect mode above an Earth surface.); and
a regenerative control unit configured to perform regenerative control of the motor in response to the ship being determined to jump as a result of a determination by the jump determination unit (See at least paragraph 206 and 350; the illustration box for the descent mode 51D illustrates a PASRACS 1 with negative (or downwardly inclined) flight path angle and the use of a propulsion system with regenerative braking 26R, that can recharge batteries on board the PASRACS 1, as well as an optional drag control surface 90D such as a deployable speedbrake or spoiler. … enable regenerative braking and recapture of vehicle kinetic energy back into electric energy by putting the blade pitch of the air propulsors into a energy harvesting mode when the vehicle is decelerating and landing, and the air propulsors work effectively as wind turbines and the motors that drive them act as generators in this mode. This therefore represents an example of the illustrated propulsion system with regenerative braking 26R that is illustrated in FIG. 12B.).
Sankrithi does not explicitly teaches jump of the ship but it has equipment that allow ship to be out of the water, determining when the ship is out of water such as flight mode, and using regenerative brake for landing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify teaching of Sankrithi to include jumps of ship and equipment for jump and using regenerative brake while ship is in jump in order to recapture kinetic energy back in to electric energy (paragraph 350).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tether (WO 2005/075234) disclsoes regenerative motor propulsion system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IG T AN whose telephone number is (571)270-5110. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 10:00AM- 4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aniss Chad can be reached at (571) 270-3832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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IG T AN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3662
/IG T AN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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